On May 16, 2021, the 25th lecture of "Weibo Law Lecture Hall" and the 124nd lecture of Luojia Environmental Law Forum, was held at the Law School. This lecture was given by Prof. Zhang Weiping of Tsinghua University, President of China Civil Procedure Law Research Association, the topic is “Environmental Public Interest Litigation - Reflections on the Basic Power Structure”.

The lecture was hosted by Prof. Qin Qianhong of Wuhan University Law School, and President Zhang Lexi of the Environmental Resources Trial Court of the Hubei Provincial Higher People's Court, Prof. Liu Xuezai of Wuhan University Law School, Prof. Qin Tianbao, Prof. Chen Haisong, Assoc. Prof. Li Guangbing and Deputy Director Hu Bin attended the lecture.

At the beginning of the lecture, Prof. Zhang thanked the Wuhan University Institute of Environmental Law and Director Qin Tianbao for inviting him, and then explained the theme of the lecture. He explained that most traditional litigation law perspectives on the subject of environmental public interest litigation are based on the framework of "subject, object, process and result", but this lecture took a different perspective, attempting to go beyond the traditional framework to explore the "basic power structure".

Prof. Zhang then explained the reasons for this perspective. He pointed out that there are usually two perspectives on the understanding of things or systems: 'idealism' and 'realism', and that systems often need to be considered from an idealistic perspective at the beginning of their design, while after they have developed for a certain period of time, they need to be understood from a realistic perspective.

Prof. Zhang then explained the dual nature of the power of procuratorial supervision in environmental public interest litigation in China through a comparative analysis of the differences in power structures between Western countries and China. In terms of the differences in power structures between China and the West, Prof. Zhang emphasized that foreign public interest litigation theories are based on their unique power structures, and that direct application of Western theories to China would be inappropriate. As for the power of procuratorial supervision in public interest litigation, Prof. Zhang argued that, in terms of the creation and operation of the power, the power of procuratorial supervision in China is both legal and political in nature, and its exercise requires not only the fulfilment of legal requirements, but also political and social considerations.

Finally, Prof. Zhang discussed how to better safeguard the public interest in our social reality and basic power structure. He argued that environmental public interest litigation in China needs to start from the country's special basic power structure and should strengthen the supervision of the functions of administrative organs.

Afterwards, President Zhang, Prof. Liu and Prof. Qin gave their respective talks. Based on the judicial practice perspective of environmental public interest litigation, President Zhang raised some questions on the scope of environmental public interest litigation, procedural design and jurisdictional system respectively. From an idealistic point of view, Prof. Liu spoke a few thoughts on the future development of environmental public interest litigation in China. Prof. Qin believed that the future development of environmental public interest litigation should focus on administrative public interest litigation, and how to bring the preventive role of environmental public interest litigation into play at source is worth further discussion.

During the Q&A session, the students interacted with Prof. Zhang and President Zhang, on the comparison of the effects of political accountability and prosecutorial supervision on environmental protection, how to solve the overlap of environmental legal responsibilities, and how to define the "extra" matters of environmental public interest litigation in judicial practice. Prof. Zhang and President Zhang gave patient and detailed answers. At the end of the lecture, Prof. Qin presented Prof. Zhang with a commemorative certificate and the event ended with applause.

Edited by Yuan Yuhang & Wu Liuqing